Leia Organa Solo
Leia Organa Solo was, at various stages of her life, a politician, revolutionary, and Jedi Master of the New Jedi Order. Born to Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Princess Minerva Organa in 20 BBY, Leia was the younger twin sister of Luke Skywalker, and the granddaughter of King Bail Organa and Queen Breha Organa of Alderaan, making her a Princess of Alderaan. Leia was most famous for her strong leadership during the Galactic Civil War as well as other subsequent galactic conflicts, making her one of the galaxy's greatest heroes. In 7 ABY she married Han Solo She had a forceful personality and bright intellect, having accomplished much in her youth: she was a strong proponent for the Rebel Alliance. Years later, she was instrumental in the creation of the New Republic. Biography Early life Leia Organa was born on the planet Alderaan in the year 20 BBY just five minutes after her twin brother Luke. Her father was Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight who had fallen to the dark side of the Force and her mother was the Princess of Alderaan, Minerva Organa of the famed House of Organa. Her mother and her father's former mentor, Ben Kenobi, knew that the children, both strong in the Force, had to be protected from the Galactic Empire and their father who now served it. When they decided it would be best if the twins were separated, Kenobi suggested that he would take Luke to live on Tatooine with his brother Owen Lars and his wife Beru. The young mother agreed, and Leia remained on Alderaan with her mother, her grandfather Senator Bail Organa, and her grandmother, Queen Breha Organa. About twenty years would pass before the twins saw each other again. The tomboy Princess At some point before her tenth birthday, Organa's mother left the home and never returned. Nicknamed Lelila,Star Wars: The Crystal Star the Princess grew up with an orphaned girl named Winter. Leia's best friend and companion since earliest childhood, Winter possessed a natural grace and poise that often led court visitors to mistake her for the Princess of Alderaan, while the tomboy Leia was regarded as a domestic girl. The Princess's lack of upper-class gentility remained a constant source of despair to her aunts Tia, Rouge, and Celly, who were nevertheless determined to turn her into what they called "a Proper Princess," and hired deportment teachers to drill into her manners fitting for the heir of an Ancient House. One part of making her a lady was to learn how a princess dresses up and does her hair. According to Alderaanian customs, Leia's hair was allowed to grow long and arranged into elaborate hairstyles. To avoid the tiresome hairstyling, she even cut her hair once only to be forced to wear a wig, even though she argued that she did not need earmuffs in the summer. While Leia disliked being "everyone's dress-up doll", her bright and outspoken nature blossomed out when she had a chance to learn diplomacy, government and languages. Wanting to expose her to as many experiences as possible, Bail Organa often took his granddaughter along to trips to other worlds, such as Ithor, where he attended the Time of the Meeting as the representative of the Empire. About six years old at the time, the Meeting was an unforgettable experience for Leia. Besides receiving palace education, Leia attended the Collegium for Young Ladies in Crevasse City. During her time there, the young Leia expressed early tendencies toward rebellion. When the school's staff once served bottled juice instead of freshly squeezed, a seven-year-old Leia staged a sit-in protest with the other students. After playing the forbidden anthem of the Old Republic, and reprogramming the Collegium's security mainframe to swap every reference to the Palpatine family with a curse word, the Princess was finally expelled from the school. Despite knowing that she was loved, Leia sometimes felt an outsider to her family. Winter was like a sister to her, but the young Princess still wished she had a brother or a sister of her own, someone she could truly feel close to. In her growing years, she often felt that she was just slightly different, without exactly knowing how, and that a part of her was missing. Winter remained a comfort to Leia, despite the differences in their personality. The friends soon learned to employ similar looks for tactical advantage, a practice they would continue throughout their lives. At age thirteen, Leia and Winter met Jahan Cross, the son of the Alderaanian diplomat Davim Cross. Both young girls had a "mad crush" on him, which, according to the Princess, "lasted three whole days." After a long hiatus, the three met again on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Alderaan Ascendancy Contention. Winter sometimes disguised herself as Leia so that the Princess could escape the Aldera Royal Palace to create mischief and visit inappropriate boys. Leia also befriended Neena, a musically talented girl about her age who lived in the Organa household.Star Wars: Tramp Freighters Once she reached her adolescent years, Leia discovered that one of her school friends used drugs and began doing some herself. Star Wars: Planet of Twilight However, her adolescent years also had their share of cherished memories. Leia became friends with Heeth Panteer, a scion of the patrician House Panteer. Once, the Princess snuck out at night with Panteer to swim in the reflecting pools of Aldera. The pair, who had fallen in love, exchanged their first kiss on that occasion, but the relationship failed to last. Organa and Panteer would meet again later in life. Galactic Civil War Imperial Senate and involvement in the Rebellion In 1 BBY, Organa successfully ran a campaign to become Senator of Alderaan, a position her grandfather had held in the past. On the day of the election, Leia told him that she knew about the Rebellion, and that she wanted to make a difference together with him. A keen political thinker, Leia knew that her diplomatic immunity and consular ship would be perfect for running covert missions for the Alliance. Bail agreed, and thus began Leia's double life as a Senator and a Rebel. Young Senator Organa inherited her grandfather's diplomatic cruiser, the Corellian corvette Tantive IV. Colton Antilles, who had served under Bail Organa as well, continued as the captain of the ship. Winter accompanied Leia to Imperial Center as an aide as she was aware of the Princess's involvement in the Rebellion, and participated in many of the Alliance's operations herself in the following years. During her time in the Senate, not everyone was pleased with the young Senator. Despite her first intimidating encounter with the Emperor, Leia became one of the leading voices of criticism towards the his policies. Being somewhat of a political firebrand, her outraged sense of justice made some people feel threatened, while others viewed her as pathetically idealistic. Drost Elegin, head of the Ancient House Elegin and a notorious playboy at Palpatine's court, mockingly called her "Madame Senator" and "Little Miss Inalienable Rights." Shortly after becoming a Senator, Organa began working with fellow Senator Mon Mothma on the Rebel war effort against the Empire. During her years in the Alliance, Leia was taken by Mothma as her political protégé and groomed Organa for eventual leadership. Mission to Ralltiir and the Battle of Kattada Prior to the Battle of Yavin 4 Leia went on a diplomatic mission to Ralltiir, a world subjugated by the Empire. It was here that she discovered a wounded Rebel who possessed vital information on the Death Star. While in the process of rescuing him, Leia encountered the Moff of Ralltiir, Lord Archibald Tion. After getting the information, Leia rescued the Rebel. Later, Leia killed Tion in self-defense, making her an enemy of the Empire. After discovering the Imperial superweapon, Rebel spies were able to steal the Death Star's blueprints, sending them to the Rebel Alliance before being killed. Following the trip to Ralltiir where they retrieved the Ralltiir rebel, Basso, Princess Leia and Captain Antilles traveled on the Tantive IV to Kattada's main space port in Haloeda. Upon arriving, they were greeted by Haloeda's ruler Madam Mia Ikova, a sympathizer of the Rebel Alliance. Later, at the spaceport, Leia and Mia Ikova received word from a messenger that an Imperial patrol ship was landing. By then, Leia and her crew had realized that it was too late to escape and that they could not leave Mia Ikova and her people to deal with the Empire alone. Shortly after, a force of Imperial troops landed on the planet under the command of Commander Karg, who announced that all who were present were under arrest in the name of Emperor Palpatine. After refusing to surrender Karg ordered his legion of troops to shoot, injuring Mia. Enraged at her refusal to surrender, Karg attempted to shoot Leia. Luckily, Leia was saved when the Tantive IV turbolaser turret opened fire on Karg, wounding him severely. The Tantive IV's crew then retrieved Leia, Ikova and Karg and brought them to the medical bay. Unfortunately, Mia wasn't able to overcome her injuries and died. Leia blamed herself for what had happened and wished she had never come to Kattada. Ikova's father responded by reminding Leia that she had come to seek help for the rebels on Ralltiir who needed their aid badly and that she should not let what had occurred sway her from her purpose, before presumably dying. Later, Organa lead a ground assault, successfully neutralizing the imperial threat on the planet. Following the battle, Leia left for Alderaan on the Tantive IV after saying farewell to her Kattadan allies. After the disastrous Battle of Kattada, Organa was contacted by her grandfather, giving her an important mission to track down Jedi Master Ben Kenobi and bring him to Alderaan. Leia set a course to the planet Tatooine with the stolen Death Star plans in tow. Death Star I campaign In 0 BBY, Organa was captured along with her ship, the Tantive IV, by Darth Vader. She was secretly on a rebel mission above Tatooine to find Jedi Master Ben Kenobi and return him to Alderaan, although she simply stated she was a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan. After a skirmish between the star destroyer and Tantive IV, the rebel ship's reactor was damaged, and Darth Vader boarded the ship through the main hangar of his star destroyer after pulling in the damaged ship with a tractor beam.The Dark Lord sought to recover the plans for the Death Star, which Imperial Intelligence suggested had been stolen by Rebel spies. Unknown to Vader, the young senator had hidden the plans inside an R2 unit, R2-D2, and sent the droid to find the legendary Jedi Master on the planet Tatooine. Leia attempted to hide from the stormtroopers in her ship, but was found and stunned after shooting one of them with her sporting blaster. She was brought before Lord Vader, who accused her of treason, although Leia untruthfully denied any connection with the Alliance. Vader brought her to the Death Star, where he personally interrogated and tortured her, seeking the location of the plans and the hidden Rebel base from which the Empire suspected the Alliance was striking. Remarkably, she managed to keep silent, despite the use of an interrogation droid. Wilhuff Tarkin, a Grand Moff and Leia's old acquaintance, threatened Organa with the destruction of her homeworld's capital, Aldera, if she did not reveal the location of the Rebel base. She lied, giving them instead the location of a long-since abandoned base on Dantooine. Tarkin proceeded with the operation regardless, saying Dantooine was too desolate and sparsely populated to make a suitable demonstration of the superweapon's power. Leia was then placed in a holding cell and scheduled to be executed, while the Imperial Navy deployed scout craft to investigate Dantooine. Princess Organa's message had reached Kenobi by this time, and he set out from Tatooine with Luke Skywalker, intending to bring R2-D2 to Leia on Alderaan. Kenobi had hired Han Solo as a pilot. Shortly after arriving in the Alderaan system, the Millennium Falcon was captured by the Death Star's tractor beam, while the station was still positioned in the system. Surprisingly, this small group managed to avoid immediate capture. Finding that Organa was on the station, they set out to rescue her. Killing a number of stormtroopers, they succeeded in rescuing Leia. Tarkin had by this point discovered that Dantooine was indeed abandoned. In order to find the true location of the hidden base, he ordered his soldiers to allow the small band to escape with Leia, after planting a tracking device on the Falcon. Darth Vader, meanwhile, set out to find Ben Kenobi, whom he later killed in a duel. Organa realized that her escape must have been deliberately permitted by the Empire, and surmised that the ship was being tracked. However, she nonetheless decided to return to the base on Yavin 4. Returning to Yavin 4, Princess Organa found that her gamble had paid off, as the plans did in fact reveal a weakness that starfighters could potentially exploit: a small exhaust vent in the polar trench. The rebel Alliance readied their fighters, and, receiving instructions from Leia, readied for what would be known as the Battle of Yavin, a major turning point in galactic history, and the event a new date system for the galaxy was based on. During the battle, the Death Star was destroyed by Organa's twin brother, Luke Skywalker, although this familial relationship was unknown by both twins at the time, after two runs attempting to hit the vent. This marked a turning point for the Rebellion and following the victory at the Battle of Yavin, Leia held a public ceremony, rewarding Luke Skywalker and Han Solo for their accomplishments and heroism during the battle. Founding of the New Republic Leader of the New Republic Personality and traits Leia Organa was a driven, headstrong, and dedicated woman with a quick wit, and forceful and fiery attitude. As a child, Leia was not fond of her role as the Princess of Alderaan. She was often seen by many, especially her family, as a tomboy and was sometimes mistaken for a domestic girl rather than a princess. As she matured her outspoken nature blossomed and her dislike of her title ceased. Leia also had a strong personality and a bright intellect, avoiding the corruption of politics, and instead concentrating on helping others. She found a kindred spirit in Han Solo, whom she enjoyed bickering with. She was also as competent with weaponry as she was with words, and kept her composure even in humiliating situations to perform daring feats like diving into a garbage chute or strangling the infamous Jabba the Hutt. Throughout the Galactic Civil War, Leia proved to be the leader that everyone was willing to follow. Her fierceness and determination to restore freedom to the galaxy helped the Rebel Alliance get through even the toughest of battles. Leia had always put duty before her own personal needs, making her the perfect leader for the New Republic. However, this would be a burden as she had to be away from her young children. Over time, her strong stance on political matters ceased and by the time of the Black Fleet Crisis many were seeking to oust Solo from her position as Chief of State. Leia was known for having compassion for her friends, and would go to great lengths to help them, whenever she could. This was why she had a strong bond with her son, Jacen, who shared her view. Relationships Luke Skywalker Han Solo Powers and abilities Appearances *''Star Wars: A New Hope'' *''Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye'' *''Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back'' *''Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire'' *''Star Wars: Return of the Jedi'' }} Notes and references Category:Females Category:Humans Category:Skywalker family Category:Inhabitants of Coruscant Category:Rebel Alliance members Category:House of Solo Category:Inhabitants of Alderaan Category:Imperial Senators Category:New Republic individuals Category:Diplomats Category:New Republic Senators Category:House of Organa Category:Force-sensitives Category:Pilots Category:Royalty Category:Jedi Masters of the New Jedi Order Category:Jedi instructors Category:New Republic Chiefs of State Category:Galactic Alliance individuals Category:Impersonators Category:Endor strike team personnel Category:Desilijic servants Category:New Republic Ministers of State